Cassandra Pendragon
I felt powerful. My wings burned behind me and the half lit cabin was illuminated as if under a midday sun. Every movement of my wings distorted the air and I could feel them slicing through space itself, phasing in and out of reality according to my whims. It was exhilarating. If only I had been able to access my core before. So much of what had happened could have been prevented. Uninvited memories rose up as I saw the faces of the dead before me again and smelled the burning garden and the decayed stench of the curse. From one second to the next I was reduced from an angel to a quivering mess of tears once again as the shadows of the past day held me prisoner. I couldn’t escape and fell to the floor, withering in imagined pain. I was insensible to my surroundings while the fit lasted but I had to endure every moment of it wide awake. I saw the grotesque sacrifices below the ritual chamber, I had to walk among the cursed kitsune and Greta’s burned out eyes appeared wherever I turned. I was completely lost until a sharp slap brought me back to reality.
Once again Ahri sat on top of me, her tails slung around my middle, her wings forced mine onto the floor and her hand was still in the air, ready to descend one more time. The surge of energy had subsided and I felt empty, desperate. With tears in my eyes I stared up at her beautiful face and mumble: “What’s happening to me?”
Her expression changed form worry to pity and she hugged me tightly. “You’re healing. A festering wound must be torn open and cleansed before it will go away. You had to live through much more suffering within a day than most people experience during their life times. It’s catching up to you.”
“You were there as well. You lived through the same night. Why are you fine?” That might have come out a little more aggressively than I had intended but I was still reeling from the scenes that had assaulted me.
“The only person I really care about is still with me. Sure, I’m still edgy and it’ll take some time before the nightmares disappear but I didn’t lose my family, nor my home. It might sound cruel but for me it was just another battle. You’re not weak, Cassandra. On the contrary, that you care so much is one of your greatest strengths.” She had read me like an open book and I wanted to believe her, but lying here, beneath her in a mangled cabin somewhere in the sky after most of my people had died or were taken prisoner didn’t make me feel strong. I felt useless, I hadn’t been able to protect my home, I hadn’t even been able to save Adam and now I was breaking down every few moments. The way I was now, I wouldn’t be able to follow the missing kids, never mind free them. It was pathetic, I had finally gained access to my core but I felt weaker than ever before, on the verge of shattering completely, like strained glass when the first fractures appear. I felt so tired.
“I hope you’re right.” I said in a subdued voice. “Can you just hold me for a minute, I don’t think I can get up just yet.” “Always,” she whispered while her weight settled down on me more firmly. I focused on her steady breath and the warmth of her body and gradually I managed to calm down.
“Realistically we have just met but I already don’t know what I would do without you.” I whispered into her ear. Her reply was nearly inaudible.
“If it’s up to me you won’t ever have to answer that question.” That made me feel better. The psyche is a funny little thing. I had been devastate a moment ago but now I felt safe, hopeful and even a little happy. I had to suppress a snort, my mood swings were seriously getting out of hand.
“Than I won’t. Thanks. You might be a bit curvaceous for the job but you’re my knight in shining armour.” She giggled. “You must be better if you can already deliver two compliments in one. Ready to stand up?”
“I think I could but I’m not sure if want to.” But apparently I wasn’t going to get much say in the matter. Ahri rolled off of me but still clung to my hand and pulled me on my feet. “We’ll get some food, talk to your family and have you cleaned. You’ll feel better afterwards, promise.” I sighed but still let go of her. We retracted our wings and I tried to brush off the worst of the grime and return my appearance to something slightly less tousled and frayed but that was a fruitless endeavour. I thought about taking Ahri’s hand but my musings were interrupted when she grabbed mine tightly and pulled me out of the room. “Come on, I’m hungry.”
The door led to a narrow walkway, flameless lamps, a speciality of the dwarfs, hung from the ceiling every few steps and filled the corridor with flickering light. To my left I could see two more doors, one on each side of the aisle, before the passage turned into a flight of stairs that vanished into the entrails of the ship. We turned right and passed several more cabins before we reached another flight of stairs that presumably lead to the deck. The corridor was empty, whoever had been talking when I had first woken up was gone but I could discern the rattling snores that came from most of the cabins. The whole ship smelled of oil, seasoned wood, smoke and damp hawsers, a low creaking sound filled the air and I felt the slight changes in hight and direction whenever a particularly strong gust of wind was caught by the rigging. Old wooden boards groaned beneath our feet as we slowly ascendant the few steps that led to a wooden double door which Ahri pushed open with her free hand.
My mom, Mordred and Xorlosh were already waiting for us, their faces drawn into lines of worry but they relaxed visibly as soon as we came on deck. An airship was pretty similar to most seafaring vessels with an additional two masts on the sides. The ship we were on was about 40 meters in length with two main masts on the upper deck. The slightly smaller masts on the side were connected with the main masts through a complicatedly woven rigging that allowed to change direction as well as hight. Seasoned oak was used for most parts of the ship but I could already see the glimmering of polished metal here and there, where the dwarfs had added additional fortifications to the hull. From experience I knew that the stone, which kept the whole contraption afloat, was located somewhere in the middle, connected to the rest of the ship through strong steel columns which formed the core of the vessel. These flying stones were a speciality of the elves. They became lighter when heated and would grow heavier when cooled down. A chimney rose up directly above the stone chamber to funnel away the smoke of the huge fires that were needed to regulate the temperature.
We came up close to the stern, a starry sky above us and the endless sea far far below. No islands were in sight. The others had been huddled together closely in front of the cargo access, talking in low voices but our appearance put an end to their discussion. With a low cry my mom threw herself towards me and I could see a smile flash across my brother’s and Xorlosh’s faces before silvery hair obstructed my view. The top of her head was now directly in my line of sight. Had I grown?
“Thank the great fox you are alright. I was so worried when you collapsed.” She snivelled into my ear. I hugged her tightly in response. “I’m fine, more or less. I’m so glad you’re still with me. How are you holding up?”
“Not great but I’ll manage, I still have to look after my children, don’t I?” She extracted herself from my embrace and looked me up and down: “you changed.” It was a statement, not a question so I only shrugged. I wasn’t sure if she meant my appearance or something else but she was right either way. “We all did, I suppose.”
“You should take a look in a mirror before you say that. You really are stunning, even under all that dirt. You’ll break many hearts once word gets around that you’re taken.” She said with only the slightest strain in her voice. It felt strange to have a forcefully normal conversation under the circumstance but we both tried really hard to avoid talking about our home or my dad. Another mental breakdown wouldn’t benefit anyone.
“She’s taken?” Mordred asked from behind insolently. Ahri smacked him on the head.
“Ouch, but I guess that means yes. Well, congratulations shorty, even though,” his eyes roamed form my head to my toes, “you’re not much smaller than me anymore, are you?”
“I’ve always been the taller one, at least intellectually. But seriously what are you all talking about? I know I got a new tail but that’s it.” Both of them leaned to the side to study my behind while my mum said: “you got a new tail? Oh, wow! Amazing, I’ve never seen anyone develop as quickly, but than again, I’ve never met another angel before. But honey, that’s not all that has changed.” Her eyes roamed over the deck searchingly until she spotted an accessible polished piece of metal close to the cargo access and pulled me along. The cargo access was a giant whole in the deck with a wooden crane above to lift heavy goods. The whole was closed off at the moment with a solid wooden cover but the edges were made of polished steel and it was enough to see my reflection.
I had grown. I was slightly taller than my mom now, probably close to 1.8 meters. I had also aged. I wasn’t a child anymore, the face I was staring at was the one of a 20something years old kitsune. I had lost the last traces of my puppy fat and had developed curves. My face was still the same but it seemed slightly sharper, high cheek bones and a sharp jaw line contrasted nicely with the soft line of my nose. My eyes appeared a little larger but their glow had dimmed enough actually see their silvery colour. My reflection was exactly the same one I had seen in Ahri’s mind. And I had thought she was infatuated enough to perceive me differently…
I was still lithe and slender with long legs and a slim figure but I sported some curves now. Not overly much but I was content. Even though I was usually careful with the word considering whom I called my people, I was stunningly beautiful even in comparison to other kitsune.
I touched my face lightly and allowed my fingers to roam over my new body. I didn’t feel any different, if I hadn’t seen my reflection I wouldn’t have been able to perceive anything unusual. Even my new hight didn’t stick out to me unless I was close enough to someone I knew really well, like my mom. I had realised that she was shorter than me now. A groan from behind broke me out of my musings.
“By the great fox, your head is swollen enough, please don’t become vain as well now.” Mordred complained.
“Don’t worry, I know you can’t understand how it feels to actually like what you see in a mirror.” I turned towards him and smiled. “But your brutish charm easily makes up for it.” Before he had the chance to reply I crossed the distance between us and hugged him. “I’m glad you’re not dead.” I felt him tense up before he returned the embrace. “So am I, glad that neither of us is dead, that is. I wouldn’t have wanted to part with my sword and you haven’t even bothered to bring your wardrobe along.” The slight trembling of his body belied his mocking inflection, he wasn’t nearly as tough as he wanted us to believe.
“I didn’t wanna interrupt your little reunion but if you’re all back to trading insults I think I can safely say me piece.” Xorlosh tapped my right soldier and continued: “it’s good to see you again, lass. I still owe you a good spanking for when you left me and the boys twiddling our beards below you, though. But I guess sticking it to his ugliness was plenty of an apology. You did well, really well. Most of me lads are still up and kicking and that’s thanks to you. If you ever need a strong hand and a stronger backbone, just call for us. I won’t forget what you did for me people and me.”
“You’re very welcome but what I did hardly merits praise or thankfulness. Without your timely intervention we would all be dead by now. It’s the dwarfs who saved us even though it wasn’t your fight and I won’t forget it. Should I ever be able to assist you in any way, know I’ll rush to your side as fast as I can.” A broad smile split his beard.
“Lass, you still have to stop talking to me like you have a stick up your arse. We went through hell and back together, stop it with the stilted speech already. But I heard you well enough.” He turned to my mother and bowed from the waist. “You did good by her, milady. She might not be the best with words but her heart is in the right spot.”
“I know,” Ahri, who had snuck up close to me interjected. “And she’s even pretty eloquent under the right circumstances.” She added quietly enough that only I could hear her. The smell of pine trees that rose from her skin distracted me for a moment and I missed parts of what Xorlosh was saying.
“… in your cabin for two days. You must be famished. Come on, all of you. I still got some fine food left in me cabin and I might even be able to unearth a nice tankard of mead for each of us. It’s much better to talk with a full stomach and a fragrant pipe. You can take a quick detour to the baths on the way while I pick up Aspera and Astra.”
“Baths?!” Ahri echoed.
“Well, at first you were unconscious, then you took to the next water barrel with such gusto that I didn’t have the heart to tell you it’s for cleaning the deck and then you disappeared in her cabin for a day. I never had the chance to show you before…” his voice trailed off when he realised smoke was coming out of Ahri’s ears, literally. Huh, she was even hotter than I thought.
“But, but you can go with her now. It’s quite comfy and the lads are all off to bed or downstairs in the stone-chamber. Come along now, I’ll show you.” He turned around and hurried towards the double door we had exited from before. With a silent glance at each other and a smirk on our lips we followed him down below, my mom and Mordred close in tow.
On the way down the stairs I quietly asked: “who are Aspera and Astra?” To my surprise it was my mom who answered from behind me:
“They are the only two surviving members of the elven enclave back at h… where we came from.” Her voice had caught on the word home and I couldn’t fail to notice the strange way she ended her sentence. I stopped and turned around, quickly enough to catch her wiping her eyes. With a quick step I was by her side and drew her close. We stood there in a silent embrace for a long time, Mordred and Ahri had given us some space considerately.
After a while I felt some of the tension leave my mom’s body and her shaky breath became more steady. I could still feel the pent up frustration and her grief but she wasn’t close to crying anymore. Sometimes you just needed someone to hold you for a moment.
I carefully extracted myself from her and held her at arms length. In the flickering light of the lamps the circles under her eyes were much more pronounced and I could still smell the smoke of the fire we had fled from in her hair. Gently I pulled her close once again and whispered:
“Join us, a hot bath will do wonders for us all.” I turned to my brother who was waiting at the bottom of the stairs with Ahri.
“Sorry, You’re not invited.” He chuckled.
“Thank the great fox for that.”
Cassandra PendragonThe bath was located a floor above the stone chamber. It was a medium sized, circular room, full of vapour and the scent of soap. Flame less lanterns provided light and four round washtubs filled the interior. A cleverly designed arrangement of pipes delivered warm water directly from the large furnaces below and a small stove in the corner kept the air warm. Wooden tiles covered the floor, the walls and the ceiling. They shimmered slightly, the coating that prevented them from rotting away in the moisture made their surface reflective. The ship had three levels, the stone chamber and auxiliary machines took up most of the lowest level, the bath, storage and a smithy were located in the middle and the cabins, where I had woken up, as well as a common room were directly below the deck. Xorlosh had led us to the stairs I had seen before, pointing out the door to his cabin on the way so we would be able to find it later on, and down to the second level. The stairs le
Cassandra Pendragon“If I may,” Astra interrupted him, “we think it more prudent to finish with the introductions beforehand. It would make any decisions much easier if we were to know our allies and their background. While we know the others we haven’t had the pleasure yet to meet the young princess Cassandra.”“Again with the stilted speech,” Xorlosh grumbled, quietly enough that we could choose to ignore him.“Aspera and I are sisters, born on the Green Island far to the north, a good century ago,” Astra continued without batting an eyelid at the dwarf’s theatrics. “We lived in the kingdom of the five families for the last 20 years, together with a small community of elves that were never interest in the rather political lifestyle back home. Allow us to express our deep felt condolences for what you have lost, all of you. We share your grief, for we as well called the island our home and lost dear friends in the fires of war.” They both stood up and bowed deeply from the waist, fir
Cassandra Pendragon“Precisely,” Xorlosh continued. “There’s also a logistics problem. While we have an artefact onboard that collects moisture from the air and provides us with enough water, food is scarce. Right now we are still sufficiently stocked for the next couple of days, but we’ll run out sooner or later. Free Land is 4-6 weeks away, if the air currents hold and my map is at least somewhat accurate. We’ll have to refill our supplies long before then or we’ll soon have to draw straws for rations. As you can see,” he pointed to the blank spots between our position and Free Land, “I have no clue where we might find a suitable place along the way. This means we either follow our prey closely and hope they have to replenish their stores as well somewhere along the way or we invest the time to search for ourselves. If we decide to do that, we’ll have to start soon, tomorrow at the latest, I’d say, otherwise we might still run out before we can restock. The thing is, if we dally too
Cassandra PendragonFor the next half hour we managed to retreat into our own little world without any worries of what might be and had breakfast in bed. We talked about insignificant things like the armour Aspera had worn and if its style might be suitable for either of us and we laughed a lot when we imagined Xorlosh wearing it instead. Not until we had finished with the meal and were comfortably sipping on mildly spiced tea did we get around to talk about more serious topics. While I was smiling contently and snuggled deeper into the cushions, Ahri suddenly touched my arm gently and spoke in a much heavier tone than before:“Now that we have a quiet moment, I’d like to tell you my story and what I know about the Arete family and my past. Would you like to hear it?” I sat up straight.“Of course. But why do you sound like you’re on edge?” She gave me a coy smile.“You’ll know soon enough. Well, here it goes…” she spoke passionately, at first, about the small colony of kitsune far to
Ahri AreteThe room had only one door that lead into the great library. It was a thing of massive gold, etched with runes and spells but most of them were just for show. If someone got that far, a few enchantments wouldn’t pose a problem. I quickly strode over and knocked, twice, on the door. A resounding boom made my ears ache and sparks of greenish energy traveled along the glyphs. I could hear retracting bolts and sliding chains and with a shudder the golden portal opened slowly. I squeezed through and found myself in a cold crystal cavern, the floor, walls and ceiling made of the same dark obsidian as the outside of the fortress. A variety of gems sprouted all over the cave, like bamboo shoots rising from the earth. They grew fast enough that I saw faint movement form the corner of my eye. They shimmered slightly and filled the cavern with dancing shadows and fleeing lights. The centre of the cave was occupied by a deep pond filled with a milky liquid that glowed ever so slightly
Cassandra PendragonWe stayed in bed a little longer, simply enjoying each other’s company but we couldn’t shut out the world forever, no matter how much I wished for it. Just when I had finished telling Ahri about my conversation with Lucifer my mom knocked on our door:“Good morning, are you two awake? Can I come in?”“Sure,” I replied while I simultaneously snuggle deeper into the blankets, I hadn’t gotten around to putting my clothes back on, yet. My mom rushed into the room like a whirlwind, most of her energy and spirit obviously restored. She closed the door behind her and scrutinised the bed, Ahri fully dressed on her side and me hugging the blankets closely, our tails tightly entwined. I was already preparing for one of the more embarrassing moments of my life, but my mom didn’t say a word. With a slight smirk she waltzed over to the table and dragged a chair around to the bed. “Don’t get up, just stay comfy. Is the tea still warm, by any chance?” I shook my head. “No matter
Cassandra Pendragon“Huh, I see. Doesn’t change much for now though, does it? Just something to keep in the back of our minds before we do anything rash.” Xorlosh scratched his beard. “If they sail past Free Land we’ll know for sure anyways and still can decide what to do about it, can’t we?”I shrugged and Ahri nodded, we couldn’t think of anything we might be able to do as well and we had already talked his morning. I had hoped Xorlosh would have an idea, though.“Did you see their flag back then by any chance,” he asked. Hesitantly Ahri replied:“Yeah… it was black with a large white skull and crossed bones below. And the sails were dark red, all of them.” Xorlosh’s brow furrowed and a furious fire ignited in the depth of his eyes.“Really now, that changes things. First of all, well done, you did the world a favour with every single one you killed. Would you kindly tell me exactly what happened?”“You know them?” I blurted out.“Not me, nah, but me little brother here had a run in
Cassandra PendragonIt was a much closer call than I would have liked to admit. Honestly, it was more due to Ahri’s perfect reactions than my agility that we didn’t crash into one another. Unfortunately only one of us was spared any form of collision. As I approached her from above, my spear angled to the side as not to hit her by accident, I saw a small smile flutter across her face and she immediately dropped one of her wooden swords and fell back on the deck. She fanned her 4 wings out behind her and raised an arm and a sword to welcome me. I could easily evade the pointy stick, and her reaching hand. I released more energy into my wings and quickly changed directions, angling my body parallel to the deck with the intention of slinging some of my wings around her body and slamming her into the planks. She had read me like a book and my wings were intercepted by hers, resulting in an unholy mess of red fire and blue energy. Even though I was stronger and faster, with her legs firml
Cassandra PendragonHer eight eyes followed me wearily while I rose ever higher into the air, my wings slithering around the statue like the coils of a hunting serpent. I could feel the enchantments and spells the dark granite had been imbued with give way without offering any resistance and slowly the inner working of the statue became visible to my second sight. Most of the magic wasn’t actually in the legs, they had been crafted as conductors and to inflict pain but the truly ingenious parts were hidden in the torso and head, both of them ablaze with the energy that flowed through them. The way I saw it, everything Shassa could offer, from her life force to her soul, could be torn from her and channeled through the legs towards the centre of the statue. What I thought to be the seed would then start to fill with power and once it had accumulated enough, a purified pulse of what I suspected would be transcendent energy, was going to be sent towards the head. An intricate array of e
Cassandra PendragonUnbelievably, the body was still moving, faint twitches and the occasional shudder made it obvious just how much pain she was in. Crap, I could already feel the urge to help her, to free her of her binds without any form or reassurance or gain on my part. Pity was a damned nuisance.“Great, now what?” I mumbled.“Don’t be daft, I know you can cut through spells. Go ahead, you’ve done it before, haven’t you?” “And then? Do I shake you until you wake up?” She rolled her eyes and that was quite the spectacle, like a wave that ran across her face.“Heal me enough to communicate but not more than that or you might come to regret it. You can do that, can you not?”“I hope so, probably… maybe? Uh, won’t there be two versions of me, anyways?”“No, the path you’re trying to reach hasn’t been walked yet, it’s just a dream of the universe in a way. It’ll become reality once you cross over, there won’t be two versions of you but I’m not sure where you’ll end up. You could also
Cassandra PendragonOne might ask why I had said eight legged monster, there hadn’t been much to see after all, images don’t usually linger on the edge of dreams but the longer I communicated with Shassa, the more real everything appeared to me. From exchanged memories lived through between two fluttering thoughts the scene around had developed into the grey of the mind scape, a place I was starting to get familiar with. I had a body and sensory impressions but there was nothing there except for a hazy silhouette, still hidden behind a veil of fuzzy thoughts. With every contact, every exchange she had become clearer until I saw her for the first time and the disembodied memories flowed together to show me whom I was dealing with. Her body was that of a huge spider, bloated and black with red markings in the shape of a reversed cross on her back. Eight bowed, chitinous legs held her upright, each one of them at least 2 metres long with a sharp, deadly claw at its end. Her torso ended
Ahri AreteThe smell wasn’t as bad as one might imagine. The continuous scrambling and scratching was another matter. The noise produced by an army on the rise was horrific, a constant, piercing pressure against my ears that made it impossible to focus on anything but the moving assembly of spare parts and limbs before me.Mordred and I had retreated under the shadow of the statue, Reia alongside Shassa’s withered body between us. Eight stone claws pinned her to the ground and even though the wounds had dried up long ago a distinct metallic odour still lingered around her prone form. Her eyes were closed, shrivelled and blind, eight deep holes on top of her head like windows to an empty room. Reia was still and pale, her mind had fled from the sensations that were racing through their connection, from the pain that had flooded her once the spell had started working. Viyara was hovering in the air, sparks of magic running along her talons and fangs while she surveyed the amassing hord
Ahri AreteHer knees buckled, her wings vanished and she fell. I was barely fast enough to catch her before she hit the ground but with a few frantic wingbeats I managed to sling my arms around her lithe body before she could add another injury to her growing collection. I was still angry, nay, furious and maybe a little shocked but when her soft curves came to rest against my chest and her fluffy tails circled around my middle reflexively I couldn’t help it, my anger melted like snow under the midday sun and I was simply happy to hold her again, dirty and mangled as she was. She wasn’t wounded anymore, as far as I could tell but her skin had a feverish colour and heat radiated off of her as if she was still fighting for her life, spasms making her muscles twitch against me constantly. Her body was liberally coated with the remains of her rampage, but the few untarnished spots showed the same alabaster hue I had come to know so well but now there was distinct sheen of silver to it,
Cassandra PendragonNope, neither sunshine nor rainbows but at least I didn’t find myself in the middle of the ocean. When I had stepped through the portal, a brief moment of vertigo and disorientation had led me into an atrium, for want of a better word. From the corner of my eye, I saw a doorway and the first steps of a wide staircase that vanished into the earth. The walls were bare but polished stone, a reflective surface crisscrossed with lines of shimmering metal, glowing faintly in the dark. Behind me the energy of the portal still hummed reassuringly, my way back was still open. Unfortunately I couldn’t quite concentrate on my surroundings, a still bleeding corpse in the middle of the room commandeered most of my attention.There, practically at the centre of the chamber, laid a chimera, with the head of a lion, the body of a goat and the tail of a serpent. Black blood oozed from deep gashes in its hide, some clean and narrow, others wide with frayed edges. It looked like the
Cassandra PendragonCould it possibly be meant to connect to someone else rather than something else? I had always wanted to learn how to heal, after all. Mephisto had basically told me that my new body would be formed in the image of what my soul desired, without the rationalisations an active mind would use to ignore the sometimes darker nature of what I might long for. If that was true, it wouldn’t be too far fetched to imagine that I had given myself a way to restore what shouldn’t be lost. Unfortunately I didn’t how I could try it out without a Guinea pig. Right then, every time I wanted to move my energy through the wing, I encountered a resistance, a blockade that wouldn’t allow my powers to pass. It felt like knocking at the door of an empty house, in theory it was supposed to open but someone was needed to turn the key and invite you in. For now, it wouldn’t be more than a fancy streak of colour among the silvery torrents of energy.Much more confident than I had been two min
Cassandra Pendragon“You’re a bloody idiot, that’s what you are. But you got balls, at least metaphorically, I’ll give you that.” “Thanks, by now you’ve repeated yourself enough times as well that my tiny brain can retain the information.” I was long past the initial rush of gratitude I had felt when I had first regained a resemblance of consciousness in a grey world of nothingness. By now I was mainly annoyed and a little worried.Unbelievably my stunt hadn’t been the end. I should’ve been dead, my very personality obliterated in the truest sense of the word, my core clean for another spin of the wheel but… I wasn’t. No thanks to my efforts as Mephisto kept on reminding me. He had saved me, in a way. The unbound energy that had been released in the chamber prior to my temporal displacement had been more than enough to reconstruct his reservoirs and the interwoven sparks of transcendent energy had allowed him to perform a miracle, his words, not mine. He had come to when I had collap
Cassandra PendragonI was somewhere in between. I could still see the circular chamber as an afterimage of sorts while I struggled with the sensations my own body was providing me with. Every muscle and tendon connected to my wings was burning as if it had been dunked in acid and I could feel torrents of blood gush down my back, a warm stream of sticky liquid that formed a dark puddle beneath my feet. I couldn’t remain upright, spasms raced up my legs and along my back and I collapsed face first into my own blood. My wings felt like they were about to be pulled out of their sockets, a much stronger force than I had ever experienced had taken hold of them and was constantly trying to rip me a part. My ingenious manoeuvre had worked, I was in my own time stream and still anchored in the alternate version. Unfortunately that also meant that right now my wings were the only thing connecting two separate streams. In a way I was a stick thrust between two wheels. If the wheels were turning